APA – Kigali (Rwanda) – M23 rebels fighting Kinshasa Government have accused MONUSCO (United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DRC) of backing the government coalition of armed groups and militias for which it has the mandate to disarm, including the Rwandan Hutu genocidaire militia of FDLR who continue to propagate an ideology of anti-Tutsi hatred in Eastern DR Congo.
The Congolese government coalition is composed of members of regular army, more than 2000 European mercenaries hired by Kinshasa since 2022, the anti-Tutsi militias “Wazalendo” spreading anti-Rwandan rhetoric, the Burundian army, and the FDLR which is made up of the perpetrators of the genocide of the Tutsi of Rwanda in 1994.
In a statement on Wednesday, M23 rebels accuse MONUSCO for providing the government coalition with information used to plan drone strikes against M23 positions as well as against unarmed civilians in the province of North Kivu where the M23 operates.
“M23 warns MONUSCO, whose surveillance drones continue to collect and transmit information on M23 positions and activities to Congolese President Tshisekedi Tshilombo’s coalition forces,” reads part of the statement
It added that this biased and belligerent behavior of the UN peacekeepers, as well as the killings of the civilian population, forced us to take appropriate measures of self-defense and protection of the targeted civilian population.
The UN mission, which has been in the vast Central African country for nearly 25 years, is expected to withdraw all its troops from Congo by the end of 2024.
President Félix Tshisekedi, re-elected on 20 December 2023 in a disputed vote, has categorically refused to negotiate with the M23 despite several calls from regional leaders and international partners.
In a statement, M23 rebels accuse the Congolese army of violating a ceasefire brokered by the U.S. government in December 2023.
The M23 is mainly fighting for the return of their loved ones who have been languishing in refugee camps in Rwanda, Uganda, and elsewhere in the region for 30 years. Most of these refugees fled ethnic cleansing and genocidal violence in their country of origin with the complacency and complicity of the regimes that had taken over the country.
CU/abj/APA
UN Peacekeepers accused of backing DR Congo’s government coalition against M23
